Bible Figure
Gomer
biblical figure in the book of Hosea (Book of Hosea)
Gomer daughter of Diblaim was Hosea's wife, whose troubled marriage became part of the prophet's enacted message about Israel's unfaithfulness to God.
Biography
Hosea 1 records God's command that Hosea marry Gomer daughter of Diblaim in a marriage that would symbolize the land's spiritual unfaithfulness. She bore children given prophetic names: Jezreel, Lo-Ruhamah, and Lo-Ammi. Hosea 3 describes the prophet's costly restoration of an adulterous woman, commonly understood to refer to Gomer, though she is not named in that chapter. The marriage imagery becomes a powerful picture of Israel's covenant infidelity and of God's persistent purpose to restore His people.
Biblical Significance
Gomer's story is inseparable from Hosea's prophetic symbolism. Her marriage to Hosea dramatizes both the seriousness of spiritual adultery and the astonishing persistence of covenant love.